This exciting challenge sees Cape Town, and our sister city Durban, competing against 163 entrants from 34 cities and 14 countries to be the world’s most lovable sustainable city. Cape Town’s bid is sponsored by the City of Cape Town.

The challenge kicked off world-wide on Friday 17 January, 2014 and will run until Thursday 27 March,2014.

‘We are overjoyed that Cape Town has been selected as one of the finalists in the WWF Earth Hour City Challenge. Cape Town is being acknowledged for the incredible efforts being made by so many individuals and organisations across the city striving to make this a more sustainable, more habitable place. Now Cape Town’s residents have the opportunity to mobilise towards that dream with the same spirit, ingenuity, and accountability that we saw with the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™,’ said City of Cape Town Executive Mayor, Alderman Patricia de Lille.

Before you get voting, let’s break the challenge down for you:

What “Sustainability” means:

Sustainability, for this particular challenge, refers to a society or city that lives in a way that sustains rather than destroys the eco-system in which it is embedded.*

Why we’ve been nominated:

As the pioneer city for Responsible Tourism, Cape Town has always prided itself on being a city that hosts visitors and manages our tourism businesses in a way that is beneficial to our communities and doesn’t damage our natural resources.

The guys at WWF are really impressed with the Mother City’s considerable attempts to actively address climate change and the exceptional will demonstrated to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, with initiatives like the My CiTi bus roll-out, the introduction of cycle lanes and an active campaign to reduce the use of electricity, whilst transitioning toward a truly sustainable future powered by renewable energy.

Who we are competing against:

Competition is fierce, we won’t lie.

Sure, we are going head to head or hashtag to hashtag, if you will, with the likes of Copenhagen in Denmark which has an active biking culture and impressive district heating system and Chicago in the United States which is home to the nation’s biggest urban solar plant, but Cape Town is fast showing its sustainability mettle with a proposed 300,000-strong rollout of solar water heaters and a 20-year purchase agreement for wind energy.

Why you should vote:

As residents of this beautiful city we call home and love so fiercely, we already know that Cape Town rocks at being sustainable and responsible. Now, it’s time to show the world that too.

Now that you know why you should vote, here’s HOW you should vote:

- Channel your inner shutterbug and videographer by snapping shots and videos of amazing sustainability projects around the city and submit your entries via Instagram. Need inspiration? Why not film your visit to Oranjezicht City Farm or post a pic of your buddy using the Cycle lane to get to work.